well, I am very much a newbie, not a very big newbie, I dont really weigh that much... at ANY rate... here is my question(s).

First off, I am trying to figure out which language to use to start working on a mud with... (i will need to learn them obviously), either A.) PYTHON, or B.) C++ ... now i like the syntax of Python, and the way it looks, not sure about C++ though. any suggestions would be helpful

Secondly, I would love for everyone to give me projects to work on.. I seem to work better if I have goals to work towards (smaller to larger) hehe.

Why limit yourself to either Python or C++? If those are the only options you're considering (and I have no idea why), Python is probably a more appropriate choice. Generally speaking, unless you need extremely high performance or low level control, systems languages like C++ are unnecessary.

Personally, I'd recommend C# or a good functional language (C# 2.0 qualifies as a half-assed functional language), but practically speaking you should use whatever language you're most proficient with.

The big difference between Python and C++ is that Python is interpreted and C++ is not. This means that a Python program will always require an additional interpreter program to run, while a C++ program is compiled to machine code and run independently. For this reason, C++ gives you better performance while Python should offer you nice things like runtime error handling, garbage collection and other things that make your life as a programmer easier. (I don't code Python, so I am just assuming here!)

So if you do not plan to create a MUD that should be able to handle hundreds or thousands of online users, I'd recommend Python. And that is without even knowing the language. Python should be the easiest of the two to get started with.

For other alternatives, I'd point you at DGD or ColdC. I believe these are very good for creating MUDs, but probably more difficult to find documentation and other material on.

Given that you'll want to learn 'to program', not just programming languages, you might want to just pick a codebase you like and learn some of that language first. You'll get introduced to a lot of basic concepts while having a project to work on.

If you're a newbie to coding, want to do something more than applying snippets and haven't got genious-level IQ, you should definitely skip any variant of C. It will most likely discourage you.

If you like Python, go with that. I'd recommend looking over Ruby and TeensyMUD first though.

Homework:
Do a simple database with a menu or two (new entry, update entry, exit etc). Entries should save to a file, of course.
Once that is done, you are probably ready to start some light mud-coding (extentions/modifications).

First language I learned was Perl, then went to PHP and Sql, have dabbled with Java and VB, Euphoria too, Rebol, and god knows what other languages. But those links and such look nice! I am looking into them!

First language I learned was Perl, then went to PHP and Sql, have dabbled with Java and VB, Euphoria too, Rebol, and god knows what other languages. But those links and such look nice! I am looking into them!